Oh yeah: a 200-mph Subaru

For buyers of the outdoorsy Forester and Outback, "Love ... is what makes a Subaru a Subaru," as the tagline goes.

But for Ali Afshar, what makes a Subaru is the rush of a twin-turbocharged, methanol-injected engine that accelerates so quickly "your eyes roll back in your head."

Afshar, 39, hopes to reclaim his record for the World's Fastest Subaru – a title he held from 2004 to 2009 when he rocketed his highly modified WRX STI from 0 to 60 mph in a single second. Within the month, he hopes to beat that record with a BRZ coupe, completing a quarter-mile in the low 7 seconds before pulling the parachutes.

The exact place and date haven't yet been determined, but the attempt is likely within the month at a track in California, Nevada or Arizona. Afshar's potentially record-breaking car makes its Southern California debut Saturday at South Coast Subaru in Costa Mesa, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"I love underdogs," Afshar said of his Subaru affection, which began in 2001, immediately after the second-generation, all-wheel drive, turbocharged WRX came on the market. He won two National Hot Rod Association Championships with the car.

"Sometimes I'm at races or events, and people don't even know where Subaru is from. They think it's Swedish."

It is, of course, Japanese, but it accounts for just 2.5 percent of U.S. auto sales.

Introduced last year, the BRZ is the automaker's first two-door, rear-wheel drive vehicle. Stock, its direct-injection, 4-cylinder boxer engine cranks 200 horsepower for a starting price of $24,595. Race prepped for Afshar's world-record attempt with twin turbochargers and methanol direct injection, the BRZ ESX, as it's called, octuples the horses to 1,600 and ups the price tag even more radically. Building it cost $250,000.

"I like to push the envelope. I'm an adrenaline junkie. I don't drink or party or do drugs. Never have, never will. I was a nerd in high school with a '67 Camaro who'd rather go to the races than go out," said Afshar, a native of Iran who spent most of his childhood in Petaluma and now lives in Hollywood racing cars and acting.

The Camaro was a gift from his dad, who promised Afshar any car he wanted if he got a 3.3 grade-point average in high school. When Afshar got the grades and let his dad know he intended to cash in with a Porsche 911 Targa GT, his dad clarified the deal: Any car you want that's less than $5,000.

It wasn't long before Afshar was taking his Camaro to Sears Point International Raceway and scoring 12-second quarter miles.

When he attempts to break the 7.4-second quarter-mile record for the World's Fastest Subaru, he wants "to run a high 6" and "start kissing 200 mph."